


A Book of Stories

by wine_and_song_and_stars



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: A bit of AU in the final chapter, Brother Feels, Childhood, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feel ALL the Loki feels, Gen, Growing Up, Hurt/Comfort, Sick!Loki, Sickfic, Thor is a good big brother, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-16 12:35:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15437181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wine_and_song_and_stars/pseuds/wine_and_song_and_stars
Summary: A series of short fics (probably 3 all told) about Thor trying to be a good big brother when Loki isn't well.





	1. Childhood

“Brother?” Thor whispered, poking his head into Loki’s room. Embers crackled in the fireplace, lending their warmth and soft light to the dark interior. Thor saw a shadow huddled in the bed, and snuck into the room quietly closing the door behind him.

“Loki?” he whispered again. A soft moan came from the bed, and Thor tiptoed over to perch on its edge. Loki appeared to be asleep, but his cheeks burned red and his black hair stuck out at haphazard angles on the pillow. Thor reached out a hand and laid his fingers against Loki’s face, as he had seen his mother do many times before. Loki’s small lips parted and a whimper escaped his throat as he leaned his head into Thor’s touch.

“It’s ok, Loki,” Thor whispered. “You’re gonna get better really soon. And then we’ll go play at hunting frost giants out by the water and…” Thor trailed off as his little brother’s eyes cracked open. Loki’s gaze was blurry with fever, but Thor’s face blossomed into a smile anyway. “You’re awake! See it won’t be long now. I thought of a new game, too! We could be Valkyrie and…”

“Thor, darling.” Frigga’s voice was soft as she slipped into the room carrying a tray with two bowls, one steaming and the other full of ice water, along with a stack of cloths. “Your brother needs his rest. Why don’t you go play with your friends this afternoon?”

Thor looked down at Loki. His eyes were closed again and his little chin was trembling ever so slightly. “I want to stay here,” he told his mother, looking up at her pleadingly. “I don’t want to go play until Loki can play, too.”

Frigga smiled down at him and stroked his hair affectionately. “Then go settle yourself by the fire with a book or a toy. I need to see to your brother for a little while.”

Thor did as he was told and sat cross-legged on the furs in front of the fireplace. He picked up a book and pretended to read it while continuing to watch Frigga and his brother.

Frigga dipped a cloth into the bowl of cold water and began to wipe her son’s face. She spent extra time pressing the compress against his temples and neck, and Thor watched carefully, imitating her motions with his hand behind the large book. He could tell that healing seidr was also flowing through the cloth in her hand, and it made him sad to know that this was something he could not imitate.

Loki’s eyes opened again, focusing on his mother’s face. “Mama,” he whimpered, his chin still trembling. She moved one hand to stroke his hair and pressed the cloth against his cheek with the other. His little form shook as he closed his eyes again. “Mama, it hurts.”

“What hurts, darling?” she cooed as she soothed his forehead with her fingertips. Wisps of seidr danced off her fingers, and Thor watched as his little brother’s shaking lessened.

Loki sighed quietly and his face relaxed. “My head, but that’s better now.” He opened his eyes a little. “Can you fix the rest of me, too?”

Frigga chuckled softly and stroked her hands over his shoulders and arms. She gently scooped her son up so his head rested against her chest and more healing magic flowed from her hands as she cradled him and rocked him slowly back and forth.

“I can make it better, my love, but I cannot fix it. That is up to you.” Loki opened his eyes uncertainly. “You must remember all the monsters you have fought with your brother and your friends, for all that practice will help you slay the one that is making you ill.”

“I will fight the monster for Loki!” Thor could no longer sit still and observe. If there was a real life monster to slay, then he would face it. “I will fight until you are all better, little brother!” He rushed over to the bed and took on a wide stance, brandishing his arm out as though it held a sword. His eyes shone with determination as he stood protectively over his brother.

Frigga laughed quietly and glanced down at her younger son who was gazing up at his older brother, his face full of admiration and faith. “This is not a monster you can fight with swords, my little warrior,” she told Thor kindly. “Loki needs to fight this monster with rest and maybe a bit of help from his family.” She ran a magic-laced hand through Loki’s hair again, and he sighed, relaxing further against her chest.

Thor’s face fell. “But I want to help,” he said in a small voice.

Frigga placed a hand under Thor’s chin and raised it until he was looking up at her. “You can.” She gestured to the book Thor had left abandoned by the fire. “You know how much Loki loves stories. Why don’t you read to him while I help him eat a bit?” She directed her attention back to the feverish boy in her lap. “How does that sound, my love?”

Loki smiled weakly and glanced from Frigga to Thor. “Yes, please,” he whispered.

Frigga propped him up with an extra pillow and re-wet the cloth to lay against his brow while Thor lit the candle on Loki’s nightstand and sat at the foot of the bed with his storybook. Thor tried to keep his voice quiet and soothing while still reading with all the gusto he could summon. He wanted to help his little brother fight, even if fighting an illness looked a little different from facing down a great beast or a frost giant.

Frigga tried to keep a straight face as she brought spoonfuls of broth to her youngest son’s mouth. Loki’s eyes got wide whenever Thor reached a particularly suspenseful scene, and twice she had to wave a hand over the bedclothes to clean them off when he gasped and pulled his head back just as he was about to eat a spoonful of soup. For two days Loki had refused to eat anything, but with his attention on the adventure Thor was narrating, she was pleased to find that he finished the bowl easily and even asked for a glass of water after.

Thor finished one story and when he was halfway through the second Loki’s eyes began to drift shut. Frigga pressed her hand once more to Loki’s cheek with a spell to make his sleep easy and restful, then she gathered the bowls up on the tray and stood to leave. Thor had stopped reading when he realized his brother was asleep, but he did not move from the end of the bed.

“Come along, my love, we should let Loki rest.”

“But he’s still fighting the monster even when he’s sleeping, isn’t he, Mama?” Thor asked.

“Yes, that’s true. Sleep is the most important weapon he has right now.”

“Then I need to stay.” Thor set his face in a way that would have looked stubborn if he were a few years older, but only came across as a pout. “I can’t leave him alone when he’s fighting a monster. What if he needs my help? What if he needs me to read to him to remind him that he can win?”

Frigga looked from her oldest son to her youngest and back again. Her lips were pressed together in a very loving smirk. “If you promise not to wake him, and to stay perfectly quiet, you can stay.”

Thor nodded very seriously and straightened his back. He held the book in his lap like it was an ancient weapon. When Frigga came back to check on them a short while later, Thor was sitting just as straight, keeping vigil over his sleeping brother. The next time she came to check, though, she found her older son fast asleep sprawled at the end of the bed. He still clutched the book to his chest, but his other hand rested on the blankets over Loki’s legs.

The door squeaked as she moved to close it, and she saw Loki’s eyes flutter open. She watched as he raised his head a bit and glanced around uncertainly. Frigga was about to enter the room to soothe him, but when his eyes found his brother at the foot of his bed, Loki’s expression eased and he lay his head back on the pillow sleepily. Frigga watched until she was sure her youngest had drifted back to sleep, then eased the door closed with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I will post probably 2 more chapters soon. I want to put the brothers in similar situations as they get older. 
> 
> Positive feedback means the world to me, as does any advice about how to get more involved in this wonderful community.


	2. Adolescence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This whole work was inspired by this beautiful piece: https://www.deviantart.com/blargberries/art/Thorki-My-Immortal-324993333
> 
> The third panel is the basis for this chapter.

“Brother?” Thor poked his head into the dark room and then shouldered the door open.

“Go away,” rasped a voice from the bed. Thor winced at how painful his little brother’s throat sounded but disregarded the command. He set down the tray he was carrying on Loki’s bedside table and then moved over to the hearth to build a fire.

“Leave it alone, Thor,” Loki sighed. He struggled to push himself farther up in bed.

This time Thor listened to his brother, in action if not in spirit, and abandoned the fireplace to help Loki situate himself with an extra pillow so he could lean back against the headboard. Loki’s mouth became an even smaller line as he avoided Thor’s eyes.

“I’m fine,” he tried to tell his brother, but the message was rather lost when the second word devolved into a painful fit of coughing. Thor rested his hand on Loki’s skinny shoulder until it passed and then handed him a mug of hot mulled wine from the tray. Loki scowled up at him but took the cup, and Thor was pleased to see his brother’s face relax a bit as he took long sips of the spiced drink.

“I told you earlier, I don’t need your help. I’ll be fine,” Loki half whispered as he cradled the mug against his chest. He stared pointedly straight ahead avoiding Thor’s gaze.

Thor took in his brother’s flushed cheeks and the way his breath rattled in his chest. Loki was, understandably, in one of his sulking moods, and Thor had no idea how to deal with him during these times, even when he was healthy. Usually he just left him alone to wander around in the Queen’s Garden, and if his reticence lasted too long, Frigga would find him and always seemed to know what to say. But this was quite a different situation. Loki needed someone to care for him, no matter what he said, and since Frigga was away from the realm, Thor figured he was the next best person. He took in a breath and blew it out his nose. Loki may be clever and moody, but Thor was stubborn. He could outlast his brother’s silence until Loki gave in and accepted his help.

“I think Mother will be back tomorrow,” Thor told him, trying to sound casual while also providing reassurance. Loki glanced down and away from Thor as he nodded. “I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with me until then. Can I get you anything? Or...is there anything I can do to help?”

Loki still did not look at his brother, but there was a crack of vulnerability behind his eyes as he pressed his lips together. He stared down into his mug and took another long, slow drink. Thor thought he saw his brother’s lower lip tremble a bit, but it was too dark in the room to be sure.

Thor sighed and moved back to the fireplace. In a few minutes he had a strong fire burning there, and as he sat back on the furs in front of the hearth, he suddenly remembered something. He smiled widely and turned back to Loki.

“I could read to you!” he exclaimed. He got up to scan over the many bookshelves lining his brother’s walls until he found the volume he wanted: an old storybook from their childhood.

Loki was watching him carefully and incredulously. “You really mean it, don’t you? You’re actually going to read me those...” he broke off coughing and then continued, “...those old fairy tales.” He didn’t look like he actually opposed this idea, so Thor pulled the chair from Loki’s desk alongside the bed and flipped through the book until he found the story that had been their favorite as children.

After a page, Thor glanced up and saw that his brother had leaned back deeper against the pillows and closed his eyes. He was clearly awake and listening, still holding the warm mug close to his chest.

At the sudden silence, Loki opened his eyes, his face hardening again. “What?”

“Nothing, brother, just checking on the fire.”

Loki pointedly rolled his eyes, but as soon as Thor looked back down at the book, he closed them again and took another sip of wine.

Thor smiled to himself and continued reading, glancing up every few paragraphs to check on his brother. After a few more pages, Loki’s grip on the mug began to slacken, and Thor held his page with one hand and gently took the mug with the other. Loki did not try to stop him.

“Would you like to lay down again?” Thor risked asking. Loki nodded and although he muttered again that he did not need help, he allowed Thor to remove one of the pillows from behind his back so that he could recline fully. “Shall I keep reading?”

Loki waited a beat, but then exhaled and nodded again, and so Thor continued.

He finished one story and moved on to another without pausing, but several pages later, Loki began pushing the blankets off his shoulders haphazardly. Thor looked up more pointedly and noticed that the flush on his brother’s cheeks had deepened. Thor’s brow tightened. Loki was shifting back and forth listlessly, as though just lying still pained him. Thor extended a hand towards his brother’s face then paused, wondering if Loki would allow such affection without recoiling. He decided to risk it.

Thor pressed his hand so that it cradled Loki’s cheek and neck, and the heat radiating from his brother’s skin caused Thor to inhale sharply through his teeth. “Loki?” he asked quietly.

Loki responded with a low moan, but did not pull away. His eyes fluttered open a bit without focusing. “Too hot,” he muttered.

Thor set the book aside. At least he knew definitively how to help. He picked up a cloth from the pile on the tray and dipped it in the bowl of water that sat next to them. Most of the ice in the bowl had melted while he read, but the water was still perfectly chilled. He laid the first cloth over his brother’s forehead and felt a rush of pride when Loki responded to this gesture with a small moan of relief, even if the sound turned into a harsh cough a moment later.

Thor paused to run a hand through his brother’s hair, then dipped another cloth in the water. He dug back through his memory for a day when he had watched his mother nurse Loki through a childhood fever. He pressed the cloth to his brother’s cheeks in turn, then moved down to wipe his neck and shoulders in long, slow strokes. He repeated this pattern, re-wetting the cloth occasionally, until Loki was no longer shaking.

Not for the first time since Loki had taken ill the day before, Thor wished he shared the seidr gifted to his mother and brother. He thought of the many times Frigga had relieved his own headaches or fever pains with an easy stroke of her hand. And although Loki would not admit it, Thor knew that his brother also used his magic in this way. Whenever Thor complained of sore muscles or a mild training injury, Loki would visibly roll his eyes and remark about how the God of Thunder was laid low by a sore back. But then he always found an excuse to brush past Thor on his way out of the room, and the pain Thor had been complaining of moments before would dissipate. He wanted to offer Loki the same relief now, but no magic ran through his fingers so he was left with nothing but a wet cloth and good intentions.

“Thor?”

Thor snapped back to attention. Loki’s voice sounded more exposed than Thor had heard it in years. Instinctively, he laid the hand holding the cloth against his brother’s cheek and brought the other up to rest in Loki’s tangled hair. “Yes, Loki?”

“Will you...will you please keep reading?” Loki timidly looked his brother in the eyes for the first time in two days, and Thor couldn’t help breaking into a smile.

“Of course, little brother.” It was the first time he’d used this endearment as anything other than a verbal jab in many years, but Loki only reacted by leaning his cheek ever so slightly into Thor’s hand. With a sentimental smile, Thor set aside one cloth, re-wet the other and replaced it on Loki’s forehead, then began to read.

The fire burned low and before long Loki’s breathing became slower. He fumbled around trying to find the blankets bunched at his legs, and Thor set the book aside momentarily to pull them up and tuck them around his brother’s bare shoulders. Before returning to the book, Thor laid his hand once more against Loki’s cheek and neck; the warmth had receded markedly.

Loki cracked his eyes open. “Is the story over?” he asked sleepily.

Thor stroked his brother’s hair. “Not quite yet. Are you warm enough?”

Loki closed his eyes again and nodded. “Thank you,” he whispered so low that Thor almost could not hear him.

Thor gave his brother’s shoulder a little squeeze in response and began to read once more.

*********************************************

Several hours later, Frigga returned home and went straight to her youngest son’s room. He had grown quite stubborn and aloof in his adolescence, and she was concerned that since she hadn’t been there to care for him during the first two days of this illness, he would have isolated himself and refused to let anyone else help in her place.

She slid the door open just until the point where it always squeaked, and then relaxed. Loki was asleep in bed, a wet rag half on his forehead and half laying on the pillow where his face was turned toward his brother. Thor was also asleep, his head resting in a book of fairy tales. She was about to turn away when Loki whimpered in his sleep, his eyes pressing into a wince. Thor raised his head drowsily and cupped Loki’s face and neck in one hand. “S’okay, little brother,” he slurred. His thumb stroked Loki’s cheek. “You’re alright.”

Loki rolled onto his side to face Thor more fully, and Thor let his hand linger against his brother’s cheek for a few more moments, then rested his head back on the book. Frigga watched until she was sure they were both asleep, and then silently closed the door with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 3rd chapter soon-ish. I'm still working it out.


	3. Adulthood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent a lot of time trying to decide how to make this chapter work, and I came to the conclusion that I needed an alternate timeline. My lovely friend beta'd it and agreed, so I hope you like it too!
> 
> This also made the story even more consistent with the amazing art that initially inspired it. https://www.deviantart.com/blargberries/art/Thorki-My-Immortal-324993333

“I could have done it father! I could have done it. For you! For all of us!”

“No, Loki.”

Thor dangled in space above his brother and watched Loki’s face transform from a slurry of desperation, anger, and despair into a calm void. It took Thor half a second too long before he realized what his little brother was about to do. Loki’s empty eyes locked with Thor’s for the briefest of moments, and then his hand released its hold on Gungnir. 

“No!” Thor roared. Out of instinct he swung out his arm as though he could pull Loki back from the void the way he always brought Mjolnir back to his hand, but of course this did nothing. Nothing. He could do nothing. 

“No,” Thor heard his father whisper above him, and then Odin was summoning a swell of power and seidr greater than any Thor had seen. It rushed from his father’s free hand into the void, wrapping around like a great sling, and Thor was caught in the return path and thrown backwards up onto the remains of the rainbow bridge. Light and color and crackling magic swirled around him as he tried to sit up, tried to orient himself to this strange new reality. His brother was gone, his clever, mischievous, misguided little brother....his villainous little brother. Grief redoubled its assault on Thor’s chest at this thought, and he gave up his effort to raise himself from where he was sprawled on the bridge. 

Thor felt a large hand rest on his shoulder and his father murmured, “Sleep.” In the moments before Thor was pulled under by this command, his vision cleared and he thought he saw Loki lying unconscious by his side. But before he could confirm, his own consciousness was drawn from him like poison from a wound, and against all odds, Thor slept soundly. 

*********************

“Brother?” Thor woke with the word already poised on his tongue. For a moment, he thought he was still on the bridge, but then his mind registered the soft cushion under his head and the soft hand that had taken his own at his utterance. He opened his eyes to find Frigga sitting beside him. The room was dark except for a fire crackling in the hearth. 

“Loki?” he asked, pushing himself up on the bed. He gripped his mother’s hand with both of his as she stroked his hair with her other hand, just like she used to when he was a child. Just as she had calmed Loki, even into adolescence, when nightmares or sullen moods took him so far away that Thor could not reach him. Grief and anger and confusion pounded back into Thor’s chest, and for the first time in many years, he sank into his mother’s arms and let her hold him there while tears leaked from his eyes. 

“He is still very far away,” Frigga said softly as she cradled Thor’s head against her neck. “But we will not let him fall any further.” She paused, and Thor thought he heard her breath catch in her throat before she continued, “Although I fear it will be a long journey for him to return home.” 

Thor raised his head in confusion. Metaphor had never been his strong suit, but Frigga seemed to speak of Loki as though he were simultaneously dead and alive. As he stared at the fire trying to work this out, something began to wriggle at the back of his mind. This room was strange, familiar and yet somehow terribly wrong. The furs in front of the hearth, the shelves of books, the perfectly ordered desk of leather notebooks and pens: he was in Loki’s room. Or, at least it appeared to be Loki’s room at first glance, but the dimensions were not quite right and the fire burned a bit too golden, as did the candles on the bedside table. For the first time, Thor turned around and discovered that he was sitting in one of two beds in this disorienting room, and his brother was lying, still unconscious, in the other. 

“Where are we?” he asked, turning back to his mother. 

Frigga pressed her eyes closed as though the answer caused her pain. “In the dungeons. Your father wanted Loki thrown in a cell until he came to his senses. I insisted he could never regain them in that environment, so this is our compromise.” She lay her hand on Thor’s cheek. “You, of course, are free to come and go as you wish, darling. I’ve put a glamour on the wall so the door will lead you out to the hallway across from your own chambers.” Just as it did from Loki’s actual room, Thor thought. Frigga continued, “But I thought it might do your brother more good to have you here with him. To remind him that you are still brothers no matter how you came to be that way.” She paused and studied Thor’s face as though checking to see if she had made a mistake. 

For a moment, Thor was too overwhelmed to respond. Then he released his mother’s hands and turned, sliding out of his bed to go stand beside his brother’s. He sat down at the edge and memories flooded him: Crawling into bed together when they were children and Loki had been afraid of monsters in the darkness. Days spent playing at hunting frost giants by the water. He winced realizing what an awful game that had been and the horrible acts such play had influenced both himself and his brother to commit in the preceding days. But the strongest memories rested together like a palimpsest: Sitting together in this same room (almost) in this same bed (presumably) reading to his fever-wracked brother until they both fell asleep. Loki had always trusted Thor to care for him, even when pride had driven him to push his older brother away. Thor could not abandon him now. 

He brought his hand to rest on his little brother’s head, cupping his cheek and neck. “Of course I will stay with him.” 

Frigga moved to stand beside Thor at Loki’s bedside. “He cannot hurt you in here,” she said solemnly and laid her hand on Thor’s shoulder. “Even if he is angry, he cannot cause any real harm. And of course, you can change your mind at any time.” She gestured toward the door. 

Thor did not take his eyes off Loki and his other hand came up unconsciously to stroke his brother’s hair. He thought of that day so long ago when he had vowed to slay the monster making his little brother sick. His mother had reminded him that Loki had to fight that battle for himself, and Thor could only help. “I will do what I must to remind him that all monsters can be defeated...even those he carries within himself.” He looked up at his mother, and saw tears shining in her eyes. 

Frigga placed her hand on his cheek. “I am very proud of you, my little warrior. Look how you’ve grown.” Thor placed his hand over hers and held her gaze, tears forming again in his own eyes. 

Frigga walked over to the bookshelf closest to Loki’s bed and removed an old volume with a dragon and Aesir warrior on the cover. “I recommend that for this battle, though, you start at the beginning.” She brought the book back to Thor, and he nodded, smiling a little in spite of their dismal circumstances. 

Thor retrieved the chair from Loki’s desk, and set it next to his brother’s bed. He looked down at Loki’s face, all its beautiful lines and jagged edges, and remembered all the times growing up when he had read to his little brother until they both fell asleep. Now he was going to read until Loki woke up, and then, come what may, he would keep reading until his little brother, his Loki, had the strength he needed to come back to him. 

Thor opened the book to Loki’s favorite story and began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!


End file.
